Archive for the ‘Cancer Biology’ Category

GENES AND GENE EXPRESSION

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

The gene is the fundamental unit of inheritance and the ultimate determinant of all phenotypes. The DNA of a normal human cell contains an estimated 50 to 100,000 genes, but only a fraction of these are used (or “expressed”) in any particular cell at any given time.1,2 For example, genes specific ...

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

Cancer is a genetic disease. Abnormalities in genes that control cellular proliferation lead to the unrestrained growth that characterizes the malignant cell. Thus, to gain the initiative in cancer detection and treatment, oncologists must begin to understand the molecular roots of the disease: genes, their messenger RNAs, and the proteins ...